Atlanta-area volunteers sprang into action over the past month to help animals stranded in the wake of Hurricane Katrina's destruction. Whether they drove down en masse to assist with seach-and-rescue efforts or stayed here to care for the four-legged evacuees, Atlanta volunteers went above and beyond the call of duty to help our furry friends. Here's a sampling of some of our local heroes:

Sue Sweeney, Atlanta: Sue traveled to New Orleans last week to help with search-and-rescue. She worked in a poverty-ridden area known as ninth ward. "No matter what you have read or seen on television, you cannot be prepared for the reality of New Orleans. For some reason, no television coverage seems to be telling the true story.
Most of the animals rescued are in terrible shape. Around 95% of them are heartworm positive and nearly 100% of them are not spayed or neutered. Others have longterm skin conditions, show scars from being fought, or have other serious problems. Add to this the state of being without food, water, or family for weeks on end and you can understand why most of these animals are seriously traumatized." Sue says that despite the overwhelming nature of her task, she was proud to be a volunteer."Everyone pitched in and helped around the clock. I was awed." Sue rescued a pit bull that was discovered locked in a bathroom with a dead companion. The house had previously been checked by other rescue teams, but somehow this dog was overlooked. "There was nothing to eat in there and the only water was a small pool that had formed in the ruined bathtub. How this dog survived is a mystery. I will remember the look in his eyes for the rest of my life. He had given up hope and then found it again."

Southern Hope Humane Society: SHHS sent 6 employees, 2 vehicles and several volunteers to Lamar-Dixon, says Susan Feingold, Assistant Director."Our employees stayed about 2 weeks. We were asked by the ASPCA to help start a new shelter in the St. Bernard Parish to take in rescued animals." Susan and 5 other volunteers helped set up tents, assembled crates, and coordinated rescue efforts. To donate or adopt, visit www.fultoncountyanimalservices.com.

PAWS Atlanta: Jeff Roberts and his group worked late into the night on October 1 to bathe, walk, and comfort 30 dogs and 54 cats who'd arrived from Mississippi. The shelter where these animals were housed had been destroyed, and the displaced pets were en route to shelters in Kentucky, Indiana, and other states. Veterinarians Dr. Albert Edwards and Dr. David Bressman volunteered to check the health of the animals before they were released to their destinations. PAWS volunteers Jane Jaskevich and Carolyn Furlow traveled to Mississippi and had this to say about their experience: "We were up at 6:30 after sleeping in a tent with 100 men and women. We worked until late at night, walking and feeding the dogs, cleaning cages and various other chores. We helped unload about 50 dogs and cats one night who'd been rescued from Gulfport, a city that was leveled by the storm. First they were washed down and then given shots, microchipping and love...always love. It was a great experience!" To donate or adopt, visit www.pawsatlanta.org.

Georgia Legal Professionals for Animals, Inc: Cheryl McAuliffe spent a week volunteering at the HSUS animal rescue center in Hattiesburg, MS. Cheryl says that about 1,700 animals had come into that facility in 3 weeks. The facility consisted of large pavilions filled with stalls for animals, large tents for people, portable showers and toilets and a mess hall run by FEMA. "The dogs were walked several times a day, visited by vets, and the cages were kept clean. They were fed twice a day. The cats were taken out of the cages and held and loved. All the stalls had fans." Cheryl says that she met volunteers from as far away as Canada, and that even though the folks running the facility seemed overwhelmed and exhausted, they exhibited"extreme patience and kindness." Many human victims of Katrina came to the facility looking for the pets they were forced to leave behind—some left crying with happiness, others just left crying. "This is why we all need to contact our representatives regarding HR. 3858, which would take into consideration pets in an evacuation," says Cheryl. To donate, visit www.georgialpa.org.

Good Mews Animal Foundation. This no-kill shelter took in about 20 cats rescued from Hurricane Katrina after volunteer Dr. Paula Rothman brought many of them from an animal control facility in Slidell that was decimated by the storm. Dr. Melinda Merck examined the felines and they are now awaiting foster or adoptive homes. Dr. Rothman is assisting with rebuilding efforts of the shelter in Slidell and has taken hundreds of pounds of food and supplies to the affected areas. To foster or adopt, go to www.goodmews.org.

Camp Woof: Camp Woof collected and distributed over 47,000 pounds of food, litter, crates, beds, bowls, medicine, bottled water, leashes, and collars to affected areas along the Gulf coast. Additionally, over $3,000 was donated to the Atlanta Humane Society Emergency Relief Fund for their disaster relief efforts. The donations allowed many families to pick out supplies necessary to keep their pets with them. "Several families told us with tears in their eyes how meaningful it was to
know that their pets' needs were taken care of," say owners Patsy McGirl and Renee Palmer.

Pit Bull Rescue Center: A former resident of New Orleans, volunteer Ami Brooks made several trips to the
Gulf Coast along with Isabel Musial and Patricia Siems. "I helped to care for over 600 animals, including reptiles and exotic birds. Many of the animals were from an existing animal control facility that was lost in the storm. Other animals were brought in as owner-give-ups, but most were brought in from teams going out into the field." On her second trip, Brooks went to Gonzales, LA. “There were hundreds of pit bulls. We managed to pull five out of Lamar-Dixon. On the way home, we stopped in the city to feed and water animals as we had lots of food to donate. Besides, with 5 crated dogs in the van, we needed all the room we could get! It was sad to see all of the destruction but wonderful to see how many animal lovers came from all over the country to help. The selfless sacrifice so many made gives me hope that my city might just survive." Contact PBRC at www.pbrc.net

Katie McClelland, American Humane Association: "We worked off a list of 3,500 homes where people had called to tell us they had left their pets at home when they evacuated. We checked on those pets and removed them if necessary. One day, outside a checkpoint, I met a woman who was crying because she couldn't get back into New Orleans to feed her son's Gecko. She gave me the crickets that he likes to eat and a key to her home. I found the house and made sure ‘Stan’ had enough food and water to survive until she and her family could return home. It was difficult work in hot, humid, filthy conditions, but after 12 hour days and no showers we went to bed with a sense of accomplishment. In the 3 weeks I spent in Lousiana, there was not a single day I didn't want to get up and do it all again."

Gigi Graves, Our Pal's Place: A team of 7 volunteers from Our Pal's Place went to Louisiana to help with search-and-rescue efforts. Here's their experience: all of these dogs were extremely distressed after being abandoned by their guardians, surviving a hurricane and flooding, living without food and water in deplorable conditions, being captured for transport to a temporary shelter and then making a 10 hour trip to Atlanta. Upon arrival to Our Pal's Place, these dogs went from distress to pure happiness as they ran and played in the sunny back-yard, found soft towels on which to sleep, and realized food, water and TLC were in abundance! Watching this transformation confirmed that the trip was a complete success!

Here are volunteer Sandy Adcock’s words: “It’s difficult to describe the trip to New Orleans after Katrina. Images, memories, sounds and smells of Louisiana come to mind in fragments with too much emotion attached. I remember the fleeting wetness of a shy dog's nose while taking a small treat from my palm; being hugged by a mastiff who was so grateful for human contact, for food and clean water.

Doing rescue in New Orleans brought the smell of death, trash, decay. It also brought exhilaration as we helped a retriever claw his way out of a canal and onto solid ground. We felt anger, disbelief that someone would leave a helpless dog tied to a pole on 4' of leash to face hurricane Katrina alone. There was gratitude, camaraderie with the soldiers stationed around New Orleans who waved us through checkpoints, gave us encouraging words, found dogs and helped care for them in makeshift shelters.

Dogs, kittens, horses, goats, turtles, snakes, birds-all were rescued and brought to Lamar-Dixon. Volunteers worked non-stop to treat, decontaminate, and provide comfort. We worked—not tirelessly, because we were all exhausted—but worked through the aches, tears, small joys of being able to help some. We worked, we acted, and we rescued, doing the job on instinct and adrenaline. One of the volunteers, when asked, says the trip was “powerful.” She has no other words to express it—nothing seems to
describe all that we saw. I'm not sure it can be summed up by any single word, but powerful does come closest.”

To donate or adopt, visit www.ourpalsplace.net.

Jennifer Farwell, Atlanta: My time performing Katrina rescue was filled with highs and lows. I watched unpaid vet techs, using a blanket on the ground as their gurney, labor against hope to save a rottweiler who "just didn't want to live anymore." (And he didn't.) I helped stop an underventilated van full of animals from leaving a shelter at 2pm in the afternoon, headed to certain death in the Mississippi heat (the northern-based rescue group was well intentioned but poorly informed). On my last night there, I met a very overweight cocker mix named Butterball, who was left by her caring family with access to a bathtub full of water and a pantry full of food. Like the thousands of animals pulled from Katrina's aftermath, she had shown courage under pressure and a determination to make the best of a bad situation. We should all be a little more like Butterball.

Kelly L. Stone lives in Lawrenceville. To learn more about her, visit www.kellylstone.com